Anyone able to automating program changes for Padshop Pro and Retrologue?
-Create instrument track instance of Padshop or Retrologue
-Create a MIDI event one or two bars long
-In the MIDI CC controller lane at the bottom change Velocity to Program Change
-Enter in two or more program changes into the lane with the pencil tool
-Observe as no patch switching occurs.
I do live electronic performance sets. Being able to automate program changes is crucial. If anyone else is able to automate a program change successfully let me know. I could have a simple preferences issue.
What is the reason that PC is crucial for you? I mean, what is it that you are missing by not having this ability?
Anyways, Program Change is a MIDI message/event and as so was created so that out of a map of 128 stored sounds, one can be chosen/switched to over MIDI. Padshop and Retrologue are not MIDI instruments per se, and as such does not use a traditional 128 map storage system. Therefore being able to switch to say Program #14 does not apply. Which of all your preset would be #14.
Just create an Instrument Track for each sound you want to use. It’s easier to manage, you get all the visual benefits over your arrangement and you can potentially use two or more sounds at the same time (which you cannot do with only one track and program changes), should inspiration hit.
If you want to group Instrument Tracks by some personal meta information that makes the situation more yours, use Folder Tracks which would make many Instrument Tracks (or any track for that matter) to be treated as one.
Thanks for the response, Elektrobolt. Patch changing is crucial for me because I can only run one instance of a VST at a time for my live sets. My laptop isn’t powerful enough to run multiple instances or I’ll suffer audio clicks and dropouts. If I don’t run them live on the other hand, I can’t play or manipulate them live.
That makes sense since the presets can appear in any order depending on how you filter them. However I can do patch changes in a different VST synth: Alchemy by Camel Audio. Alchemy has a similar MediaBay type filtration system yet retains the PC function. I wonder why that is.
The reason why many other VST instruments works with PC messages, is because they still operates as if they were MIDI instruments (like an external hardware synthesizer with MIDI). They need to do this in order to work with the many hosts available, since there are hosts that do not have a built-in preset system.
This is why you often see two patch/preset/program systems in VST plug-ins, one that seems to be part of it and the other being the native Cubase VST Preset system.
Anyways, some of these VST instruments respond to bank messages to handle more than 128 programs (the limit of the Program Change event message), others use a working “bank” that you fill with 128 programs for the instance, and some have a limit of 128 programs, etc. There are many ways that this can and is being done.
So why not Padshop and Retrologue then? Well, I do not know the real reason of course, but my guess is that Steinberg probably have bigger plans for its VST Preset system, which is the one available at the top of a VST instrument window (load/save preset, etc.) and used in MediaBay. So with the ability to use more tracks rather than complicate a single track with PC events, that’s the road chosen for (some of) their VST instruments.
Steinberg has not removed support for the MIDI style PC functionality entirely, e.g. HALion 4 still supports the 128 programs per instance.
Who knows, maybe there will be a new VST3 Preset/NE Program Change…